Eyeglass guard



Sept. 1, 1936- A. R. HILSINGER EYEGLASS GUARD Filed Feb; 10, 193:5

VII/1,2229% INVENTOR'.

Patented Sept. 1, 1936 NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in optical frames and more especially to the construction of guards for spectacles and eye glasses.

The principal objects of the invention are the provision of guards of the rocking-pad type wherein the pads are so designed as to be easily attached to the supporting. area without distorting the same or marring the finish thereof or of the trued and finished frame and pads, which pads are readily replaceable, when desired, by a simple manipulation performed with a plier or other simple tool. tion resides in the fact that the degree of rock of the pad can be readily varied by means of a simple manipulation with a plier or other simple tool and also. that both in the manufacture of the pad and. in, the operation of attaching the sameto the supporting arm the quality of the precious metal on the surface of the interlocking parts of the pad and arm is notv affected or altered as now com.-

monly occurs, due to the shaving action which occurs in striking up the post of thepresent type of pad from a blank and due to the spinning of the end of such-post during the riveting of the same to the supporting arm. Other advantages of my invention are hereinafter set forth. 7 Atthe present time the pad of the guards of eye glasses or spectacles are commonly-secured tothe lever arm elements so as to afford a selflocating or rocking engagement and usually this isaccomplished by providing a post or stud memher on a pad, which stud is inserted through an aperture in the lever arm and then a head is spun or otherwise formed on the free end of said stud so as to retain the stud in permanent engagement with such lever arm while permitting of the free rocking thereof, whereby the pad automatically accommodates itself to the nose of the wearer. In order toadjust a pad in or out, the leverfarm is bent with pliersto space the pad the desired. distance from the rim of the frame. I loweven-frequently, in endeavoring toadjust the lever arm by such bending operation, the same is fractured and, in such event, because:v of the fact thatthe padis riveted thereto, it is necessary that the Optician or retail dealer handling the samereturn the entire frame to the manufacturer in order to have a new pad riveted to the-lever arm. Furthermore, in the forming of the post ,or stud a stamping or striking-up. operation performed on a suitable blank, the quality of .theprevious metal layer ofthesurface of the blankis deleteriously affected, as during the striking-up of the post, an elongation occurs which tendstarohthe Further objects of the inven on said pad, which; is:usua1ly accomplished by surface portion of some of its coating. Again, when the up-setting or spinning operation is performed in securing the pad to the lever arm, there is still a further weakening of the quality of the coating, with the consequence that corrosion is far more likely to occur on the end of the stud and especially under the influence of perspiration or moisture than on any other part of the frame.

My investigations have led to the discovery that the foregoing objections can beavoided by employing my new guard construction and method of applying a pad to the supporting lever arm, all as hereinafter described in detail.

In the accompanying drawing in which I have illustrated certain preferred embodiments of my invention Figure 1 is an elevation of a pair of spectacles equipped with my improved guard;

Fig. 2 is afragmentary detail elevation, partly in section, of the same;

20 Fig. 3 1s a front elevation partly broken awayof the pad member, isolated;

Fig. 4 is a perspective View member of the pad, isolated;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a front elevation, partly in section,of a pad and a pair of pliers showing the manner in which the spreading of the loop carr-iedby the pad can be accomplished and Fig. 7 is a fragmentary edge elevation, partly in section;

Fig. 8 is an elevation of a metal pad equipped with my improved loop attachment, isolated;

Fig. 9 is a front elevation of a modified form of pad; and

Fig. 10 is a vertical section on the line Ill-J0 of Fig. 9.

Referring to the drawing and the construction shown therein, the reference numeral l .designatesa bridge of an optical frame, such for example as the pair of spectacles illustrated, and 2 the lens rims in which are mounted lenses 3. The reference numeral 4 designates temple mountings and 5 the temples pivotally secured thereto. Guard-support or lever arms 6 are secured to the inner margin of the-respective rims, being; usually soldered thereto, and said lever arms are offset to provide depending portions 1' having slotted apertures 8 formed therein adjacent the tip thereof.

Referring to the construction shown in Figs. 2 to 5 inclusive, composition pad members 9, formed of zylonite or other suitable shell orplastic compositions, are mounted on the depending portion of the; lever arminsucha manner as to have relative rocking engagement of the looped insert position pad, the same being designated by the 2. therewith, the same being accomplished by providing such pad member with a looped insert member ID, formed preferably from a wire or rod, which is anchored in the composition pad during the molding thereof in such a manner that the flattened and expanded offset ends H, H thereof are embedded between the opposing halves a and b of such composition pad. The eye or loop of such insert is of such an area or expanse that prior to the spreading or expansion of said loop, the same can be readily inserted through the aperture 8 in the terminal of the guard support arm and when so inserted, can be spread or expanded into the position indicated in the dotted lines in Fig. 2 so as to permit of rocking engagement of the pad with the depending portion 1 of such lever arm while preventing the accidental separation of these interlocking members from each other.

In Fig. 8, a form of metal pad is illustrated, the same being designated by the reference numeral 52. In this type of pad, a looped element or link i3 is secured to the rear face of the pad by means'of solder,'as designated by the reference letter 0, or in any other suitable manner. This pad, like the pad shown in Figs. 12 to 5 inclusive, can be secured to the depending portion 'l-of the guard support arm by inserting the loop l3 through the slotted aperture 8 and thereafter expanding the same in the manner previously described with reference to the loop ll! of the pad 9.

In the construction shown in Figs. 9 and 10, there is illustrated a still further form of comreference number 14 in which a looped insert member If! is embedded between the two halves d and e of such pad, the latter being provided with an outwardly flaring recess through which the loop or link of said insert projects and the minimum diameter of such recess is slightly greater than the extreme normal width or expanseof the looped portion of such insert, whereby the section or portion e of said pad can be applied over the looped end of the insert after the same has been flattened and after the ends H," H thereof have been offset. To securely retain or anchor the'insert member between the halves of said pad, and especially to prevent distortion of the insert at the shank thereof during the spreading or compressing of the loop, 11 provide a Washer l5, which is preferably about .005" in thickness and the central aperture g in said washer is of just sufficient diameter to permit of the same being fitted over the shank portion of the insert member when the opposing wires are spot-welded together, as indicated in Fig. 4, and thereafter the ends H, H may be flattened and upset. The insert member with the washer thus applied thereto is molded between the two halves d and e of the composition pad.

In order to either apply or detach the pad to the depending portion 1 of the guard arm, I employ a pair of specially constructed pliers, the same having handles l5 and I6 and opposing jaws l1 and IS. A conical pin or tooth I9 is secured to the jaw l1 and the jaw l8 has a bifurcated end into which the end of said pin is adapted to freely project when the jaws are compressed. A stripper element 2| is secured to the inner face of the jaw I1, the said stripper being also bifurcated at its outer end, as indicated by the reference numeral 22, so as to permit of the free passageof the tooth or pin therethrough.

The operation of spreading the loop or eye l0,

or the corresponding loop [3 of the pad shown in Fig. 8, and interlocking the same with the portion 1 of the lever arm, is as follows:-The loop of the pad, before spreading such loop, is inserted through the slot 8 as indicated in Figs. 6 and '7. Thereupon pressure is then applied to the handles i5 and IS with the result that the broad base of the pin or tooth I9 will effect the expansion or spreading of the eye It) sufiiciently to prevent the passage or escape of the same through the aperture 8. When the loop has been expanded to the extent desired, the jaws of the plier are forced to open and by such movement the guard 2! will automatically strip or free the eye I0 from the spreader or pin l9 and permit of the same being easily removed from the plier.

In order to detach a pad from its interlocked relation with the associated lever arm, the eye or loop is merely compressed to its original width and thereupon the loop can be withdrawn through the aperture 8 and thus removed from the lever arm. The slight flexing of the metal during the attachment or removal of a pad from its frame is insufficient to seriously weaken the same and consequently the same pad may be used for several different frames in the event of the breakage of a lever arm during adjustments thereof.

The adjustment of the degree offrock of my improved guard, unlike the present type of rocking pads, is accomplished by simply exerting pressure with a pair of pliers upon the eye or loop to expand or spread the same to the extent desired.

My improved loop construction, as distinguished from the post commonly employed heretofore, insures that the quality of the surface metal of such loop will not be in any way disturbed during manufacture or during the application of the pad to the guard terminal regardless of the number of times that this may occur. I

Among the various other advantages of my improved construction is the fact that the frame can first be completely finished and trued and thereafter the pad is fastened thereto without affecting the adjustment, or in any way marring the finish, and thereby the manufacturing operations are substantially simplified, while at the same time the shape and finish of the padare in turn unaffected by the truing and finishing operations to which the frame has been previously subjected. 1

r In the manufacture of my improved pad construction, there is a decided saving due to the simplicity of the manufacture thereof as compared with the production of the usual pad ems bodying the aforesaid post construction, as not only are the original tool and die costs and the up-keep cost thereof for the production of my pad very much less, but also the several successive drawing operations nowrequired to draw or strikeup the present post from a blank and the excessive die wear attendant thereon are eliminated, since my 1001) element, especially that illustrated in Fig. 4, can be formed complete, except for the spot Welding operation which while preferred, is not essential, but a single stamping operation which effects the simultaneous cutting of the wire employed to the desired length, the formation of the loop, as well as the offsetting and flattening ofthe free ends of the insert. Further- 7 more, for the reasons heretofore explained, my improved pad construction peculiarly lends itself to the employment of gold plated or other precious metal plated wire having a so-called base metal core.

As a practical example, the relative dimensions of the loop member and the receiving aperture, the following dimensions, which in practice have proven to be highly satisfactory, are given:-

For an opening in the guard-support arm which is of oblong shape .040" x .60 loop is used which is formed preferably of a wire also of oblong section and of about .025" x .030" in section and the overall dimension of the loop when compressed is about .57", thus leaving a clearance which admits of the free passage of the loop through the aperture in the guard arm of .003". Such a loop, when compressed, or rather unexpanded, will have an eye of about .007" in diameter and this eye is expanded by the expanding tool about .010 to .025" with the result that the overall diameter of the expanded loop will approximate .070" to .085", the amount of expansion of the coil depending upon the amount of relative rock which it is desired between the pad and the guard-support arm.

By the term non-metallic plastic composition, as used herein, I refer especially to pyroxylin plastics, as celluloid pyralin and zylonite, for example, and also synthetic resin condensation products, as bakelite or condensite, for example,

and other moldable plastics of a generally similar nature which adapts the same for use as the cover elements of optical nose guard pads.

Various changes in the above described construction can be made without departing from the spirit of my invention as embraced within the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to obtain by United States Letters Patent is:-

A nose guard pad comprising two opposing rigidly inter-connected cover elements of nonmetallic plastic material, one of said elements having a central aperture therein, a filamentary wire insert member of pliable metal having integral oflset ends which are embedded between said cover elements and having a looped terminal which projects through the central aperture of the apertured cover element and a washer enveloping the opposing wires forming the shank of said loop and also embedded between the cover elements, said washer having a central aperture of sufiicient size to just receive the wires of the shank and adapted to prevent undue separation of the wires in the shank of the loop where the loop is expanded.

ARTHUR R. HILSINGER. 

